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PACE Zenith Awards 2012: Young Achiever Finalists

David Michel Automotion Control SystemsDavid Michel
Automotion Control Systems

David Michel, as Engineering Manager is responsible for the design of hardware, firmware programming and management of a team of employees and contractors. David has played and will continue to play an important part in the FM1 Telemetry Projects with Nacco Materials Handling Group (NMHG) – a forklift design and manufacturing company producing Yale and Hyster brands of lift trucks marketed and sold worldwide.

David engages with NMHG heads of design centres from all over the world – Masate Italy, Nijmegen Netherlands, North Carolina and Oregan USA. He produces strict requirements and project timing plans and is responsible for ensuring that the technology is developed correct in lock step with a ACS time to market objectives.

David began as a graduate engineer in 2006 and quickly demonstrated skill in engineering design principles and a very strong work ethic. Throughout his career at ACS, David always remained well versed in upcoming areas of engineering technology and worked tirelessly to ensure engineering designs were always of a standard fit for commercial sale.

David deals with the pressures of business daily, as his role encompasses not just design schematic and firmware programming but also management of staff, contractors, and interfacing with production and QA systems. Importantly, as ACS spreads into international markets, David has been instrumental in ensuring the design methodology employed at ACS.

Having to coordinate client engineering staff in multiple world wide locations, David has been effective at managing his work and the engagement process. David has added important engineering design procedures within ACS, such as ensuring that designs consider compliance at the very start, as well as how intellectual property and version control and the engineering change process.

Kyle Dix
REDARC

Kyle Dix REDARCREDARC develops and manufactures a range of electronic voltage converters, battery chargers and associated electronics products. Kyle Dix is Surface Mount Technology (SMT) Supervisor at REDARC which involves him ensuring the safe and efficient operation of the assembly line.

Dix has ten operators and technicians working under him as well as fulfilling a range of roles in the areas of innovation, customer satisfaction and teamwork as well as maintaining the integrity, quality and protection of the environment in line with REDARC's policies. Kyle's most significant achievement to date has been the designing and then implementation of a cleaning program to facilitate quality improvements in PCB cleanliness following the SMT process.

The PCB washing project was implemented to realise an improvement in product quality. This in itself was a significant gain to REDARC and it occurred ahead of schedule, within budget and achieved the required cleanliness result as defined at the outset of the project.

As further evidence of the confidence that REDARC Management has in Kyle's current and developing abilities as a graduate engineer, he was appointed the position of Surface Mount Technology Supervisor effective from September 2011.

His responsibility includes ensuring the safe and efficient operation of the new SMT assembly line, development of a preventative maintenance program, ensuring continuous high product quality, and is responsible for approximately 10 operators and technicians.

Lucya Yunus
Xstrata Copper North Queensland

Lucya Yunus Xstrata Copper North QueenslandAs Metallurgist at the Xstrata Mount Isa Mines copper smelter, Lucya Yunus is responsible for technical training and providing support to the operations, maintenance and management of the feed preparation, primary smelting and ESP dust leaching areas of the copper smelter. Xstrata Copper North Queensland's Mount Isa ISASMELT furnance experienced an accelerated brick wear of 260 mm per year.

At that time, Lucya was working as a graduate metallurgist in the copper smelter project team working on the Slag Slow-Cooling project, which formed the basis of an academic paper presented to the Mine, Mineral and Metallurgical Society. Lucya assisted the team in the investigation and recommended, trialed and monitored the implementation of a number of initiatives as well as some of her own solutions.

To clearly define and better understand the consumption costs as well as identify areas to reduce costs within the primary smelting operation, Lucya proposed and developed a cost tracking tool which was presented and implemented in February 2012.

This tool has helped indentify critical areas for cost saving, including costs associated with the smelter's oxygen, coal and diesel consumption. The implementation of Lucya's cost tracking tool in the primary smelting operations has helped Xstrata gain a better understanding of oxygen wastages.

This has resulted in several cost saving initiatives including setting the minimum ISASMELT feed rate of 125 tonnes per hour to maximise oxygen efficiency and the adoption of a new, modified oxygen supply distribution logic to reduce wastage and save approximately $80,000 per month. Lucya's cost tracking tool is now being further developed for application in the secondary copper smelting operations. 

Sven Huber
Tyco Flow Control

Sven Huber Tyco Flow ControlSven Huber is an Automation Projects and Service Technician and started with Tyco as a third year apprentice. His duties include in-field product services such as commissioning troubleshooting and repair for electric actuators, smart valve positioners as well and workshop repairs.

He also handles Profibus trouble shooting and automation systems integration up to SCADA level application levels. Integrated into the Nepean waterways upgrade was a series of new fish-ways adjoining each weir, which allows fish to migrate upstream and return according to their natural breeding cycles.

These expertly designed fish-ways were constructed especially for the project and serve to reclaim the natural habitat that has been lost over the years due to the presence of the weirs. The technology to monitor fish migration was proprietary and through intensive cooperation with the technology providers, Sven obtained the necessary subject matter expertise allowing him to seamlessly integrate the innovative fish monitoring system with the higher level PLC and SCADA systems.

According to his manager, Sven consistently performs at a maturity level well beyond his age. A Tyco Flow Control customer noted Sven's consistent compliance with safety regulations and insistence of getting the job done safely as a priority.  

Dave McPherson
Laser Electrical Ballarat

Dave McPherson Laser Electrical BallaratAfter recently completing his electrical apprenticeship, Dave is now qualified as an industrial automation electrician. He is multi-skilled and works mainly in the industrial automation and control arena. He undertakes work for his employer that would normally be done by an engineer.

Through his accelerated learning (via the WorldSkills training) Dave is now working unsupervised, whereas normally, someone of his age and level of experience would not be completing jobs by himself.

His employer says he has advanced quickly and Dave is now organising other workers on jobs, working installing new processing equipment in one large processing plant and will be heading overseas to work on an installation in India.

Dave's increased knowledge and experience has brought many benefits to his employers. Dave represented Australia at the WorldSkills competition in London last year in the Industrial Control section and finished fifth out of 26 competitors.

SICK drives innovative sensor intelligencePACE Zenith Awards 2012: Young Achiever category is proudly sponsored by SICK
SICK Pty Ltd
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